Missing Since 1999: Teen Nicholle Coppler's Remains Found in Crawl Space

[MuffyBee]

http://www.limaohio.com/articles/coppler-79519-lima-daughter.html
Bones identified as missing teen Nicholle Coppler
Greg Sowinski
February 18, 2012

LIMA — While the news Krista Coppler has waited nearly 13 years to get was sad, it brought solace knowing the young girl the family knew as Nicholle finally was coming home.

“I knew in my heart it was Nicholle,” Krista Coppler said Saturday. “Now, we want to bring her home and lay her to rest.”

Coppler and her family were at a press conference in which Lima Police Chief Kevin Martin announced the remains found earlier this month at a Lima home were identified as missing teenager Nicholle Coppler. Coppler was 14 when she disappeared in 1999. She was last seen at the home of Glen Fryer at 735 S. Elizabeth St., where police found her skeleton after the house was demolished and while the foundation was being dug out.
 ::snipping2::
Almost all of Coppler's skeleton was found during the recovery effort that stretched over three days. She was found buried beneath a crawl space. She was identified using dental records, Allen County Coroner Gary Beasley said.

Fryer was the chief suspect in Coppler's disappearance after she was last seen at his house in the weeks that followed her disappearance.

Fryer, 55, committed suicide in 2002 while being held in the Allen County Jail awaiting sentencing for raping a 12-year-old girl. He had agreed to tell police what he knew of Coppler's disappearance but took his own life days before the meeting.

With the discovery of Coppler's body, the case becomes an active and open homicide investigation, Martin said. He vowed to pursue anyone who had a role in Nicholle's death.

“Our goal is still the same: Try to get to the truth,” he said. “Where exactly that will lead us I cannot say.”
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Justice may include charging people connected to human trafficking, to which police said Fryer had a link. Police also said other people knew Nicholle was in the house. Whether they had information on her death remains to be told. Lima Police Maj. Richard Shade said at least two people other than Fryer were living at the home.

There have been no arrests connected to Nicholle's disappearance, although police have talked to 179 people who may have had information, Shade said.

“I feel the trafficking, what has been exposed on the trafficking, if that all can be dismantled or girls can be saved, I think it also will be attributed to Nicholle,” Diana Coppler said.

Lt. Jim Baker, who supervises the detective bureau, said charges may come, but it could take some time. He has two detectives on the case.

“We fully believe Fryer was involved in her death but believe there were other people,” Baker said.

Nicholle's remains have not been returned to the family. Beasley said the skeleton is at the Lucas County Coroner's Office in Toledo for further examination by forensic anthropologist to try to learn how she died.
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Funeral arrangements are being made for Nicholle, but a final announcement will not come until Nicholle's remains are released to the family. Beasley had no idea how long that would take, but others suggested it would be a few weeks.

Edit note:  Correcting sp of name in subject lines.  mb

[cookie]

Very sad...

[San]

So very sad.

[trimmonthelake]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/02/20/police-find-remains-ohio-girl-missing-since-1-in-accused-rapists-home/#ixzz1muciPzL4?test=latestnews
Police find remains of Ohio girl missing since 1999 in accused rapist's home
Published February 20, 2012
| Associated Press
LIMA, Ohio –  Police say the skeleton of a 14-year-old Ohio runaway missing since 1999 has been found after the home where she was last seen was demolished.

The Lima News reports that Lima police on Saturday said the remains of Nicholle Coppler were found in a crawl space as the home's foundation was being dug out. Allen County Coroner Gary Beasley said they were identified through dental records.

The home was owned by Glen Fryer, who had been suspected in Coppler's death. The newspaper reports he was 55 when he killed himself in 2002 while awaiting sentencing for raping a girl.

The home was demolished after the state took possession due to unpaid taxes. Coppler's remains were the only ones found.

"I knew in my heart it was Nicholle," said the girl's mother, Krista Coppler, who now lives Florida. "I knew in my heart she never left that house."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/02/20/police-find-remains-ohio-girl-missing-since-1-in-accused-rapists-home/#ixzz1mw9cfO19

[MuffyBee]

http://www.limaohio.com/news/nicholle-79719-remains-coppler.html
Coppler funeral delayed by autopsy
February 22, 2012

The funeral time and visitation for Nicholle Coppler will not be set until her remains are returned from the Lucas County Coroner's Office, her family said Wednesday.

Nicholle's grandmother, Diana Coppler, received information Wednesday the coroner's office may have Nicholle's remains for several more weeks while trying to determine a cause of death.

The family cannot have a funeral until she is returned, the grandmother said. As soon as they have Nicholle's remains, they will run an obituary in The Lima News that will have dates and times for the funeral and visitation, she said.
 ::snipping2::

[MuffyBee]

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/301645/20120220/nicholle-coppler-remains-found-police-lima.htm
Nicholle Coppler’s Remains Found: Lima Girl Missing 13 Years. How Investigation Went Wrong
By Jacey Fortin
February 20, 2012

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Nicholle's mother Krista Coppler finds some solace in the discovery. Now, she said, she will be able to lay her daughter to rest. But questions remain as to why the victim wasn't found earlier. "The investigation, in the beginning, we don't feel it was handled right," she said to The Lima News.

It was a struggle in the first place to enlist the help of law enforcement; police didn't begin searching until over a year after Nicholle's disappearance. Nicholle's grandmother Diana Coppler recalls the emotional ups and downs of the ordeal -- she and other family members were sometimes frantic, sometimes despondent and sometimes buoyed by false hopes. "The hardest part was not knowing exactly what happened to her. Stories came to us over the years and we based a lot of our belief in the stories. Usually, all the stories did come up incorrect."
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Today, Lima Police Chief Kevin Martin is facing fresh criticisms regarding his department's handling of the case over a decade ago. Police had suspected Fryer, eventually enlisting the help of the FBI to search his house. It is unclear why cadaver dogs and ground-penetrating radar did not help detectives locate the body; Martin's only explanation was that technology inevitably has limitations.

Now that remains have been found, the case has been reopened and the work is far from over. Police maintain that Fryer may have been connected to a human trafficking scheme, so further investigations could lead to some important discoveries. Furthermore, two other people were reportedly living at the house while Nicholle was present and may be connected to the crime.
 ::snipping2::
Nicholle's remains are currently under examination by a forensic anthropologist in Toledo in order to determine the exact cause of death. Funeral arrangements will proceed once the skeleton is returned to the Coppler family.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.limaohio.com/articles/police-79872-nicholle-fryer.html
Editorial: Lessons learned from Nicholle Coppler case
February 26, 2012